Yahoo! Testing New
Branding Metrics for Search at ClickZ covers how Yahoo is helping more
advertisers tap into tools to measure brand reach and buzz through search, a
sign that tracking search buzz is finally getting some needed, renewed
attention.

Many are familiar with Yahoo Buzz, the
consumer-facing service that shows what's hot in search. Not so well known is
another version that advertisers and others can tap into. Yahoo has had that
product for years. It's not new, as the story suggests. Instead, it sounds like
it's being given a revamp in preparation for wider positioning. A new "Search
Share Of Voice" tool is also planned.

It's long overdue for greater outreach like this. As we've had more and more
"word-of-mouth" tools designed to measure blog buzz, it's seemed forgotten that
search engines have access to much more broad web buzz based on what wide,
everyday audiences are looking for and writing about.

FYI, Google's got a similar tools it developed to help
CurrentTV do
Google Zeitgeist segments. I asked Google a couple of weeks ago whether these
tools might be rolled out for others to use, when talking about them. It's
something Google has in mind, but there were no immediate plans to do so. So we
watch and see!